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Aram Family Papers
mssAR
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Aram family papers
Creator:
Aram, Joseph, 1810-1898
Identifier/Call Number: mssAR
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear Feet
(1 box and two envelopes)
Date (inclusive): 1835-1912
Abstract: Letters and manuscripts related to Northern California pioneer Joseph Aram and his family.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Aram family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Edward Grabhorn, January 1945.
Joseph Aram and his family came to California from Illinois in 1846, arriving after the outbreak of the Mexican War. Aram
served as a captain in the war, as a delegate to the first California Constitutional Convention, and as a member of the first
state legislature. From 1849 until his death in 1898 he lived in and near San Jose, where he established the first tree nursery
in Santa Clara County. Only two of his children reached old age. Eugene, the youngest, practiced law in San Jose, Woodland,
and Sacramento, and was elected to the State Senate. Sarah, the oldest, married Methodist preacher Peter Y. Cool in 1855.
Reverend Cool had begun his California career in 1850 as a miner in Amador County, but in 1852 he received a license to preach.
He filled many appointments, among them that of Presiding Elder of the Santa Barbara District. After his death in 1882, his
widow spent the remaining thirty years of her life in Los Angeles.
The collection contains letters and manuscripts related to Joseph Aram and his family. Subjects covered are: mining; pioneering
in California before and after the gold rush; and the Methodist Episcopal Church in California. There is also a journal by
Peter Y. Cool about mining and Methodism in Amador County, 1851-1852, and a scrapbook by Sarah Mahala Aram Cool containing
material about her family, California pioneers, and the Methodist Church. The photographs are of Aram and Cool family members.
Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2020, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Former call number: mssAR 1-79.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Frontier and pioneer life -- California -- Santa Clara County
Gold mines and mining -- California
California, Northern -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Family papers -- California
Letters (correspondence) -- California
Scrapbooks
Aram, Eugene W.
Cool, Peter Y.
Cool, Sarah Mahala Aram
Methodist Episcopal Church -- California